Hi folks,
The night before Passover we
decided to do a carb binge and chose AL DENTE where Chef Roberto Donna
was actually holding a 3rd Anniversary Party for the restaurant in our
neighborhood.
I am very sorry for the delay on this write-up,
but Passover came and then my computer decided to misbehave, so I am
quite backed up on this group!
At any rate Samuel looked at
the menu and immediately chose the RAVIOLI del PLIN since he adores the
butter sage sauce not to mention the meat stuffing and veal jus. They
were superb and reminded me of how Chef Donna is truly one of the
greatest pasta makers we know.
Before we ordered some
anniversary nibbles arrived in the form of a shrimp arancini (fried
risotto ball) which we offered to Sam as he loves them, not knowing it
was risotto and shrimp. He was not happy as he truly does not like
shrimp, at least for the past couple of years. When will this change
again?
Prosciutto and parmesan cheese were on a slab of bread
as was mozzarella and tomato, but the yummy tastes were the huge
meatball with hot sauce and an Italian style mini-frittata.
We
ordered a bottle of 2010 Val D'Aosta (Piedmont) called Donna's Nebbiolo
which was specifically bottled for Chef Donna from near the French
border (hence the label using the French valley's name Valle D'Aoste).
The wine is an awesome blend of 90% Nebbiolo with 5% each of Freisa and Neyret from the Caves Cooperatives de Donnas!
Will
and I decided to order two starters to share. The Fried Zucchini
Flowers with Ricotta, Lemon and a slight hint of mint were just in
season and truly fresh and refreshing, while the Fried Sardines were
superb with a Salsa Verde and Arugula topping. The bones lifted right
out of each fish for simple bone-free degustation.
Will,
knowing that Passover was 24 hours away chose the Pizza Salsiccia e
Rapini with tomato sauce, smoked mozzarella, pork sausage, garlic and
wonderfully fresh broccoli-rabe. I went traditional with the Veal
Saltimbocca topped with Prosciutto and Sage in a rich thick Marsala Wine
Sauce with Sautéed Spinach and a Potato Puree Tower.
We were
way too full to even think of dessert and went home knowing that it
might be a week without bread or pasta, but we had our fine share that
night.
Congratulations Chef Donna on three wonderful years almost around the corner; it's good to have you so close!
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